Went out fine and actually felt pretty comfortable for not having been in the water for a few weeks. About 200 meters out a guy passed me at a pace I thought I could hold so I grabbed on to his feet and drafted. That lasted about 50 yards and then all of a sudden I lost my breath. Not sure why or what happened, but I more or less started hyperventilating and it was tough to control. I did some weird/awkward swim stroke to the buoy where I stood for about 10 seconds to collect myself and then came back in. On the way in I was better but had to go really slowly to control my breathing. Not sure if it was the colder water or just some swim fitness falling off (probably this one?) but I didn't feel like I could exhale or get decent breaths.

Not sure what I could've done differently since I'm not sure what it was the result of. Probably swim some more leading up to it, but since my season is effectively over I wasn't too concerned about that.

Saw Adam and AJ talking as I ran to my towel. Got my wetsuit off, but couldn't balance enough to put my shoes on. Felt like I'd been tossin back jaegerbombs for half a day. Sat down to put on my shoes and socks.

Sit down sooner.

Prior to the race I thought I'd see if I could PR on the run. Didn't happen. Adam was waiting for me so we ran the first mile together in 7'01". Shortly thereafter I felt a sideache coming on and told him not to let me hold him up since his pace was good and he didn't sound like he was breathing hard. For most of mile 2 my sideache took over and I ran it in 7'45". Felt better for the last 1.1 miles, which I ran in 6'57". First thought after finishing was that I went out too hard. That was wrong since I went out on target pace. I figured I'd run the first mile in 7', followed by 6'30"s for mile 2 and the same for the last 1.1, which would get me to 20'. Thought it might be possible since the first part of mile 2 is downhill and for whatever reason, I've always felt a lot better after the turn around. Then mile 3 is mostly flat and an easy run home. Didn't happen, but no big deal. That's what I get for not running recently.

Nothing.

Hung out with everyone and drank beers while avoiding mosquitoes.


Me.


Always a good time - starts promptly and is well organized with prizes/drawings at the end.